TCU Offers Lindale Defensive Lineman Terrell Cooper

Terrell Cooper has more to consider as National Signing Day looms.

TCU reached out to the senior Lindale defensive lineman with a scholarship offer late Sunday evening and is the first school from the power five conference level to do so. Cooper announced the news through his personal Twitter account.

Lindale endured a difficult 2016 season, but Cooper (6-3, 240) had a solid individual performance as a flex player that could play tackle, end or both during the course of a game. The team lost a must-win Week 11 contest that otherwise would have placed it in the playoffs for a second consecutive season as one of the state's smaller Class 5A schools.

Cooper served primarily as a tackle on Lindale's 2015 team. That squad possessed the best defense in terms of points allowed among East Texas' 5A and 6A schools through the regular season and reached the 5A Division II state playoffs.

The lineman holds other FBS offers from Arkansas State, Memphis, North Texas and Texas State.

TCU is coming off a 6-7 campaign. It dropped a 31-23 decision to Georgia in the Liberty Bowl at the end of the year.

The Horned Frogs Program has generally been a model of consistency through Gary Patterson's 18 years in Fort Worth and 16 years as head coach.

Patterson, originally the school's defensive coordinator under Dennis Franchione, inherited a program with a fan base still bitter about the Southwest Conference split up in the mid-1990s. While Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech received invitations from the Big Eight Conference to form the Big 12 Conference, the Frogs were left out and had to find an alternative league.

TCU's perceived manifest destiny was to reach the Big 12, and it finally got the opportunity alongside West Virginia ahead of the 2012 season after winning five conference championships with Patterson in two different leagues. It filled one of the voids created by Missouri and Texas A&M's departures to the Southeastern Conference -- moves that came less than a year after Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12.

It took Patterson and company just three seasons to win a share of the Big 12 title. His teams have reached bowl games the two years since.

Cooper, like all college football prospects currently in their senior year of high school, will become eligible to sign with any school that offers him Wednesday.

2017 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

• Tristan Allen, Atlanta, LB, 6-3, 206 — committed to Louisiana Tech; additional offer from UTEP (2)
• Isaiah Allred, Van, WR, 6-3, 205 — offer from Texas State (1)
• Judah Bell, Tyler Bishop Gorman, WR, 6-3, 180 — offers from Bowling Green, Coastal Carolina, Houston, Kansas, Memphis, Navy, New Mexico, North Texas, SMU, ULL, ULM, UTSA, Wyoming (13)
• Noah Bush, Athens, LB, 6-1, 216 — committed to Air Force; additional offer from Army (2)
• Lagaryonn Carson, Liberty-Eylau, DE, 6-4, 261 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, North Texas, Oklahoma, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M (9)
• Terrell Cooper, Lindale, DE, 6-3, 240 — offers from Arkansas State, Memphis, North Texas, TCU, Texas State (5)
• Trestan Ebner, Henderson, WR, 5-11, 180 — committed to Baylor; additional offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Colorado State, Houston, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Texas, Ole Miss, SMU, Syracuse, UTSA, Texas A&M, TCU, Tulsa (20)
• Montrell Estell, Hooks, WR/DB, 6-2, 180 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Notre Dame, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulane (12)
• Octavius Evans, Center, WR, 6-2, 186 — committed to Boise State; additional offers from Indiana, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas State, ULL (8)
• Ted Fuller, Harleton, RB, 5-11, 195 — offers from ULM, Wyoming (2)
• Tre Gatlin, Carthage, DE, 6-6, 210 —offer from Wyoming (1)
• Quan Hampton, Texas High, WR, 5-8, 165 — committed to Kansas; additional offer from Texas State (2)
• Austin Hawley, Gladewater, DB, 6-1, 200 — committed to ULM (1)
• Kollin Hurt, Gilmer, DB, 6-3, 175 — committed to Louisiana Tech; additional offers from ULM, UTSA (3)
• Jordan Johnson, Hooks, ATH, 6-0, 195 — offers from Air Force, Army (2)
• Kayce Medlock, Arp, ATH, 5-10, 186 — committed to SMU; additional offers from Army, Colorado, Houston, Navy, Tulane, ULL, UTSA (8)
• Damion Miller, John Tyler, WR, 6-1, 189 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Baylor, Houston, Kansas, Missouri, North Texas, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (11)
• LaMarcus Morton, Gilmer, WR, 6-2, 175 — committed to Oklahoma State; additional offers from Arkansas State, Colorado State, Houston, Indiana, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, New Mexico State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, ULL, ULM, UTSA (13)
• Javonta Mosley, John Tyler, CB, 6-1, 170 — committed to UTSA; additional offers from Arkansas State, Houston, Memphis, North Texas, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas State, ULL, ULM (10)
• Cade Pearson, Texas High, QB, 6-3, 193 — committed to North Texas; additional offer from Wyoming (2)
• Dhailon Phillips, Lufkin, WR, 6-3, 195 — committed to Texas State; additional offers from Air Force, Army (3)
• Dez Robinson, Atlanta, LB, 6-3, 210 — offers from UTEP, Wyoming (2)  
• Kordell Rodgers, Lufkin, QB/ATH, 5-10, 165 — committed to Texas State; additional offers from Arkansas State, ULM (3)
• Makyle Sanders, Tyler Lee, S, 6-1, 177 — committed to North Texas; additional offers from Air Force, Memphis, Navy (4)
• Bryson Smith, John Tyler, QB/ATH, 6-0, 170 — committed to Houston; additional offers from Air Force, Arkansas State, Baylor, Bowling Green, Memphis, New Mexico, North Texas, Purdue, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas, Texas State, Tulane, Tulsa, ULL, ULM, UTSA (18)
• Cameron Sir Louis, TE, 6-3, 220 -- offer from Air Force (1)
• D’Torian Smith, Tatum, DE/LB, 6-3, 225 — committed to Air Force; additional offers from ULM, UTEP (3)
• Major Tennison, Bullard, TE, 6-6, 248 — committed to Alabama; additional offers from Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oregon, SMU, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA (14)
• Josh Thompson, Nacogdoches, CB, 6-0, 182 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Arizona State, Arkansas State, Baylor, Colorado State, Fresno State, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Minnesota, Missouri, North Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, SMU, TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulane, UCLA, ULM, Utah, UTSA, Washington State, Wyoming (29)
• Lakendrick VanZandt, Henderson, RB/S, 6-1, 196 — committed to TCU; additional offers from Arkansas State, Baylor, Houston, Memphis, Oklahoma State, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa (10)
• Traveion Webster, Longview, S, 6-0, 197 — committed to ULM (1)